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UnDisciplined: Superlatives And Survival

Utah Public Radio | By ALYSSA ROBERTS

Published April 19, 2019 at 11:42 AM MDT

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Among the superlative creatures Matthew LaPlante studied for his new book, cheetahs stick out in his mind as some of the most impressive.

Animal Ark

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Axolotls are also a topic in today's show and in Matthew LaPlante's new book. They're some of the thoughest and, arguably, cutest, organisms out there.

John Cancolosi / Getty via Scientific American

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Slow lorises are deceptively cute, when considering their elbows actually contain powerful toxins activated by saliva.

Duke University

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Flatworms are One R. Pagan's favorite organisms and examples of some of the amazing ways organisms biologically evolve to be strange survivors.

Alamy

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Matthew LaPlante is the host of UnDisciplined and the author of a new book out April 30 called "Superlative: The Biology of Extremes."

Matthew LaPlante

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One R. Pagan is the author of "Strange Survivors: How Organisms Attack and Defend in the Game of Life"

BenBella Books

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"Superlative: The Biology of Extremes" promises to be the biggest, fastest, loudest, deadliest book you'll ever read.

BenBella Books

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"Strange Survivors" is all about the strange and fascinating ways organisms have biologically evolved to, well, survive.

BenBella Books

This week on UnDisciplined, we're talking about big things and small things, loud things and fast things, things that kill and things that survive being killed — but we're doing it a little differently than normal.

We're talking to two different science enthusiasts who channeled their passion into writing books about science.

We’ll be joined by Oné R. Pagan, a science writer and professor of biology at Westchester University in Pennsylvania.He's the author of three books about science, including "Strange Survivors: How Organisms Attack and Defend in the Game of Life" focuses on the ways biolgical evolution has made us all survivors. His book is available to order or read online through Amazon, Google Books, Barnes and Noble, and Target.

Also joining us is someone who will sound very familiar to listeners of UnDisciplined. Matthew LaPlante is not only the creator and host of this very program, he's the author of a forthcoming book, "Superlative: The Biology of Extremes," which promises to be the "biggest, fastest, loudest, deadliest book you'll ever read." It will be available for purchase on April 30.